The Haas F1 Team have confirmed they have purchased Marussia’s Banbury base and have named ex- Ferrari and Red Bull staff in key positions.

Haas are set to enter F1 in 2016 and were keen to supplement their North Carolina factory with a European base for logistical purposes.

They have also appointed Dave O’Neill as team manager, Rob Taylor as chief designer and Ben Agathangelou as chief aerodynamicist.

O’Neill is well experienced in the role of team manager having held the position at Jordan between 1998 and 2005, before moving to A1GP and latterly Marussia.

“O’Neill’s experience is quite valuable to Haas F1 Team, for his task upon joining Manor was to set up a Formula 1 team in six months,” the team said in a statement. “Recruitment of personnel, the purchase of equipment and infrastructure, oversight of car design and supplier selection were just a few of O’Neill’s many duties.”

He is joined at Haas by Taylor who was senior design team leader at McLaren from 2006 until 2010 having previously been head of vehicle design for Red Bull. Taylor has also worked for Ferrari, Arrows and Benetton during a long F1 career.

Agathangelou also joins with a wealth of experience having been head of aerodynamics at Red Bull between 2002 and 2007 and also worked on the design and development of the current IndyCar chassis.

The Sky Sports F1 Digital Team will be providing live commentary from all four days of the final pre-season test in Barcelona. Sky Sports News HQ will also have live updates from trackside.